Tom Barrett Not Sure He Needs Another Ass Kicking

Tom Barrett is considering whether he needs another ass kicking in a recall election for governor, but he may believe that he's been beat up enough over his career. Barrett has yet to throw his hat into the ring, and for good reason: Governor Walker's war chest will swell to sums Barrett could only have coma-induced dreams about because of the infusion of corporate donations from abroad. With that money, any candidate running against Walker will receive the business end of a big stick, then be dragged through the mud while chained to a large, gas-guzzling SUV. Barrett already took one beating from Walker, and he might be a bit gun shy about taking another high hard one for the team.

 

Barrett began his career of getting beat down at Marquette High School, when Rudy McGregor first thought to call him "Uncle Tom," a nickname he endured for his four-year tenure at Marquette, where Barrett's compassion for his fellow man was not always accepted as the norm. Barrett was also thrashed in college by students at UW-Madison because he was not interested in binge-drinking and playing sheepshead for hours on end in the union.

Later, Barrett was ridiculed for his Tom Selleck mustache by political opponents during his 1992 congressional run. He was again thrashed years later when he cut off the mustache, with opponents claiming he looked old. Still others smacked Barrett around because of his unconfirmed glass eye. In 2009, Barrett was physically assaulted by a bully with a tire iron, and he ended up in the hospital. A year later, Scott Walker was taking Barrett out to the woodshed and throttling him during the race for governor, after having abused Barrett for several years in Milwaukee politics.

Apparently, even after being destroyed over and over, Barrett still represents the best chance for Wisconsin Democrats to take back the state's highest office, so they will try to  push him back into the frying pan to face yet another firing squad. Barrett is seen as a nice guy and sometimes as a victim, but it remains to be seen whether he has the concealed weapons to deal with Scott Walker, or if he's in for another can of whup ass.